I hope that this comment doesn’t become typical of Google’s approach to Chrome security

From an interview at Google Blogoscoped with Google group product manager Brian Rakowski:

There are ways to make Chrome automatically download a file without the user confirming this (at least using Chrome’s default options). Don’t you consider that a potential problem?

On its own, downloading a file isn’t dangerous. It can be annoying if a site tries to download a bunch of files to fill up your hard drive, but there are other ways to do things like that and it hasn’t become a problem. The danger arises when an automatically downloaded file can be automatically executed. We’ve taken steps to prevent this in Google Chrome and will continue to make sure that this is the case.

This answer is incredibly disingenuous.

How about this comparison? Leaving your front door open is not inherently dangerous.  It’s only a problem if an attacker walks in through the open door and steals your stuff!

Is downloading a file inherently dangerous? Of course not, I do it all the time - when I want to! If Chrome can be fooled into downloading a file without the user’s permission - and it can - that means that an attacker can place malware onto your machine, and it’s up to you not to launch it.  Even if it’s named Spore.exe, and has a Spore shortcut on the Start menimageu linking to it. A Start menu shortcut is itself just a file.  Arbitrary file downloads are inherently dangerous.  You can’t say “It’s only dangerous if…” the file automatically gets executed, because it’s much easier to convince the end user to execute a file than it is to force it onto the end-user’s machine!

With decent security in place, that is.

BTW, this vulnerability calls into question the whole trust model that the comic book brags about on page 26-27, don’t you think?

Posted in Geekiness Comments

Just finished watching the Tina Fey/Sarah Palin episode of Saturday Night Live…

And boy, are my arms tired!

The Tina Fey/Sarah Palin thing was not horrific, actually, for the most part, I guess.  But I’m not sure that it was a great idea for SNL to make a play for the attention of people like me, who haven’t seen SNL regularly since Joe Piscopo overwhelmed the show with his talent. 

Let me put this plainly.  Why would SNL do anything to attract this kind of attention when, how shall I say, the show sucks so bad? Shouldn’t they try to avoid attracting attention?  Isn’t the last thing they should want to do is get more people looking at them sucking so bad? They should be hiding.

Yes, I watched it at 8 on a Sunday night.  That’s always been a big problem with SNL, that it’s on so late.  That, and the sucking.  Oh, my tentacles and and teeth!

Posted in Writing Comments